Mr. Lawson's Assistant

Chapter 68

Several police officers were milling around the ambulance, talking into their walkie-talkies and gesturing to each other. I gripped the side handle of my car, glancing at David.
"Why-"
"I don't know..." He shook his head, pulling into a parking space near the back of the lot. "Maybe one of your neighbors had an issue." He frowned, turning off the car. I started to nod, ignoring the sudden tightness in my chest, before my eyes caught sight of a black Range Rover parked near the apartment building, nearly hidden by cop cars. My hand flew up to my mouth.
David looked over at me. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head, unsnapping my seatbelt and reaching for the door handle. "That's Damon's car!"
I ran across the parking lot until the police cars blocked my view, then I slowed to a jog. David's calls behind me drew the attention of two officers near me, and they moved to cut off my route to the apartment.
"Ma'am, you can't go inside-" The taller of the two started, holding out his hands to stop me, but I cut him off.
"I live here!"
The second police officer gently grabbed my left arm to stop me. "Ma'am, we have a hostage situation going on inside the building. You can't go inside."
My heart stopped for a split second and I froze.
David caught up at that moment, but when he saw my face, his expression morphed into concern. "Oana? What's wrong?"
I bit my lip and reached up with my free hand to brush my hair out of my face. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. "What's his name?"
The second officer let go of my arm, looking at the other man in confusion.
"Who, ma'am?"
I glanced past the two men to the apartment complex. "The hostage. What's his name?"
The officers exchanged a look. "We aren't allowed to disclose that information right now, ma'am."
David glanced between the two officers before he reached out and squeezed my right hand. "We may know the hostage. His name is Damon Lawson."
Both officers stiffened.
"You know him, how?" The first officer reached for his radio as the second one spoke. I bent over quickly when I felt a flash of heat spread through me, and the voices around me slurred.
Stupid stress.
I thought, squeezing my eyes shut when I felt David rubbing my back and talking quietly to me.
"Oana. Calm down." He was saying, his voice lost every so often to the crackling in the nearby officer's radio. "Take some deep breaths and try not to think about it." David murmured.
I inhaled and nodded, slowly straightening. I hadn't ever had panic attacks before, and I wasn't about to start now.
"What are we supposed to do?" I said carefully, blinking and pushing my hair back as my eyes refocused.
The officer spoke before David could. "Stay calm," he paused, glancing at David, "and listen to orders. We only have one hostage right now, but there's a high risk that numbers will go up when people start coming out of their apartments." He looked pointedly at me, as if he'd known what I was thinking.
I raised my hands. "I'm not going to do anything stupid." The officer just nodded like he didn't believe a word.
David crossed his arms over his chest and dropped his chin. "Who's holding hostages?"
The officer started to shake his head, but I spoke over his denial. "It's the mafia, isn't it?" The sickness in my stomach remained, but I no longer felt like throwing up. Ironically, I was starting to feel more like throwing a punch.
"I'm not at liberty to say ma'am. Now could you please come with me to speak to our detective in charge." The officer wasn't asking. I exchanged a glance with David, before we both started after the officer towards a large police van that had just arrived on scene.
A large man with a dress shirt that was two sizes too small for him rounded the van and came towards us, his eyebrows knit tightly together.
"You two know Mr. Lawson?" He asked, pointing at us with his last two fingers.
I spoke before David could. "Yes. He's my boss." The detective jerked his head at the police officer behind us, before motioning that we follow him back over to the van.
"We got a call from a young woman who lives in one of the apartments, saying she and Mr. Lawson were locked inside her apartment and someone was trying to break in. The call was ended shortly after someone broke down the front door." The detective started, and my stomach lurched.
"Soma?!"
The detective nodded. "I believe that was her name-"
I covered my mouth and David's face darkened in concern when I looked over at him.
"She's her roommate." David said quietly, gesturing to me when the big man gave him a quizzical look.
"Do you have the contact information for her parents?" He asked, pulling a notepad out of his back pocket. As I listed off Soma's parents' numbers from my phone, David called Greyson.
Fifteen minutes later, Greyson and Mrs. Lawson pulled in, and the detective went to brief them. So far, all David and I knew was that Damon and Soma were being held against their will in my apartment and had been for the past three hours. By now, the rest of the hostage relief teams had shown up and David, Greyson and I were all sitting inside the open-back of the police van. Mrs. Lawson had stepped out to speak to the detective. When she returned, her pale blue eyes were riddled with worry, but she only offered a small smile to us before going to sit alone in the front of the van. We'd found out that there were four men and a woman inside my apartment, other than Damon and Soma, but nothing violent seemed to he happening. On top of that, the police had gotten no word of what the captors wanted.
I'd spoken briefly to Greyson, but no one was in the mood for conversation, especially given the fact that we all knew who the captors were. The police told us that they wouldn't name Sara until there was evidence, but we all knew.
"Hey, Greyson offered to let you go back to-" David moved over and gently tapped my shoulder.
"No. I'm staying." I cut him off before he could even finish. There was no way in heaven that I was leaving until Damon and Soma were safe.
He stayed with David until they found me.
I thought, reassuring myself of my decision hoping to keep my mind off my pounding headache. David sighed but nodded, sinking down to sit beside me again.
There was another long hour of silence and painful waiting, before things started to change. The police cars around us started to turn on and shift positions, cops were walking around talking quickly to each other, and the detective in charge could be heard starting to call out orders.
Greyson straightened to my left. "What's happening?" He murmued, pushing himself to his feet and striding over towards the approaching officer. The two had a short conversation before they both turned and walked towards us. Greyson's face was stony, but I could see the worry in his eyes.
"Oana, the detective needs to speak with you." He mumured, scanning my face as he spoke. I glanced behind him to where the big man was waving angrily at another officer, before I pushed myself to my feet and moved past Greyson.
The detective sent the other officer away as I approached and turned to me with an annoyed sigh.
"Miss Atkins, we've just recieved word from the captors." He paused, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead. I stared at him with crossed arms and wide eyes. "They are willing to let Mr. Lawson and your roommate go in exchange for you."